Night on the Water
by Rio Kamishiro
Summary: Judai receives a mysterious note telling him to go to the dock at night... to his surprise, he finds a seemingly depressed Edo Phoenix waiting for him?


~HeroShipping~

Night at Duel Academy… it was a time that most students would usually be asleep, but for Judai, he was wide awake. Just earlier in the day, he received a note that was anonymous. "Hm, who would send me a note and not put their name on it?" He said outloud to himself as he walked to the port. "Meet me… at the port tonight." Stretching his arms, Judai finally made it closer. "Pretty vague. Hopefully I'm not too early-" Walking up to it, he looked around… More and more, hoping to find someone.

"Anyone here? Hellooooooo-" Suddenly, another voice was heard. "Stop shouting."

Judai looked over and saw a person cloaked in moonlight. Soon, the mysterious figure was identified to be Edo Phoenix.

"Edo? Did you send me this?" He curiously asked, holding the piece of paper up. "Of course. It seems you _do_ have a brain at times." Edo smirked, sarcastically. Judai didn't really care if he was being sarcastic or not, he just wanted to know why he was sent here.

"So… what's with the fancy invitation here? You could have just asked, y'know." Looking away from the brunette, the smaller teen sighed. "If I had done that, then your little crew would have known about us meeting."

That confused Judai more. Why was Edo being so secretive and oddly meek? He usually wasn't like this. Normally… he would be stronger sounding and assertive. Not right now, though. He was different.

Edo suddenly sat down right near the edge of the port. Looking towards Judai, he motioned for him to sit next to him. Not sure what he was up to, Judai wasn't going to argue. He walked over and sat right next to Edo.

A moments silence passed and Edo finally spoke. "Do you remember what I said during our first duel?" Raising an eyebrow, Judai didn't really know what Edo was talking about. It was a bit blurry now. "Do you mean when you said I made you sick?" He giggled, teasing Edo slightly. Not making much of a different expression, Edo just hunched over. "Yeah, yeah. Ha, very funny."

"Seriously though, what are you talking about?" Judai asked, not sure what the teen was playing at.

Another sigh, Edo finally explained. "How dense are you? Fine, I'll just say it. The murder of my father… me looking for him... that jog your memory?" Twiddling his fingers, he was hoping Judai would finally understand what he was trying to do. "Um… okay. But what does this have to do with..?"

Exhaling another loud noise, Judai laughed. "Someone is sighing a lot today."

"Shut up. Listen, I… caught my father's murderer. About a week ago." His expression turning from smiles to shock, Judai didn't know that he had actually found the murderer. "It turns out… my own foster father, DD, actually killed him… he had been deceiving me this entire time."

"DD? DD… wait, the Destiny Duelist!? That famous guy?" Each word surprised Judai more and he didn't really know what to say. He was glad that Edo finally avenged his father, though. But he did still wish Edo would show his Elemental Heroes a bit more respect.

"That's the one." Edo continued. "Anyway… After I finally accomplished my goal… I came to a realization. One that wasn't easy for me to admit."

Judai continued to listen intently. He didn't want to interrupt, especially when Edo actually seemed sincere right now.

"I was wrong." He stopped, and covered his face so Judai wouldn't see his expression. Judai wasn't paying attention to looking at Edo right now, though. He was just content on looking at the ocean while listening. "You… you don't make me sick. I was just… jealous. Jealous that you could duel with heroes in a way without hate in mind…"

Hearing that made Judai look over. "Edo…" The grey haired teen still concealed his face underneath his arms… as to still hide his emotions. "That was really it though! I only realized after I finally obtained my revenge." Judai could tell Edo really meant it… he sounded remorseful. Sorry. Hurt.

Not sure what to do, Judai put his arm around Edo… gently, as to not scare him off. "It's okay. You don't have to be sorry. You were only saying that to me with your father's best interest in mind… it's the past now." Gazing at Edo, he gave a warm smile.

Looking over… Seeing such a tender look on Judai's face… it made Edo feel more sorrowful. Unexpectedly, a tear ran down his cheek. Noticing this, Judai's smile remained. Maybe what Edo needed all along, was someone to tell his feelings to. Maybe he just needed… to cry.

"It's… not…." Edo tried speaking, but his voice kept breaking. "Shh. Edo… it's okay now." Holding Edo closer towards him, he stopped trying to pull away and hugged Judai, burying his face in his chest. Not holding back, tears began to come down his cheeks like a waterfall. He began to sob loudly, although it was slightly muffled from the fact his face was covered by Judai's chest.

After a few minutes, Judai held Edo against him and waited for him to calm down.

The only sound that could be heard now was the ocean hitting the port. That, and a few sniffling sounds from Edo.

"Are you better now?" Judai smiled, as he ran his fingers in Edo's hair. A simple nod came from him as he pulled himself away from Judai. He felt awkward saying anything, so he didn't. Judai watched as Edo used his sleeve to wipe his nose and face.

"Might just be me, but I think tissues would do a better job…" He smiled, as Edo looked up at him. "Shut up, this is fine."

After wiping his nose a little more, Edo got up abruptly. "Edo? What are you doing?" Judai pried, wondering what he would be doing after crying for what seemed like twenty minutes. "I just wanted to tell you that. I'm a busy guy, I have to go now."

Taking a quick glance at Judai, he saw that same smile… that smile that made him lower his guard for once in his life. That was the first time he had cried so loudly since his father's death. It felt… nice to just let it all out like that.

"Thank you…. Judai." He mumbled quietly. "Huh? What?" Judai quickly blinked.

Edo sneered and then walked off, feeling relieved. He was actually glad he gave Judai that note now… it changed something inside him that day.

Maybe now, he could try to let his emotions out more.

Thanks to Judai, he felt better about himself.

"Edo! If you ever feel down, just come to me, okay?" Judai called out, as Edo once again was enveloped in darkness.


End file.
